Author Topic: Exploring The Area  (Read 193408 times)

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Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #510 on: May 05, 2020, 07:31:14 pm »
Today for my once a day exercise I thought that I'd have a walk to Bryn Euryn as it's been a while since I last went there.   I followed Llanrwst Road downhill and soon came to the old horse trough, a sign of a bygone age but much the same as the road itself which is narrow and dangerous in places particularly at the bottom where it meets the Conway Road.
I then crossed over the footbridge over the A55 into Tan Y Bryn Road and there is an old water pump that has also survived from times gone by.  After the pump I turned left and followed the public footpath through a delightful woodland setting in Nant Sempyr..This path was to take me to the top of this Iron Age hill fort and although it is only 430 feet above sea level it has stunning views in all directions.
As I came down the hill I could see thousands of Cowslips alongside the path and there were a number of Purple Orchids in full flower too.   By the car park I made a detour to see Llys Euryn which is a ruined building which was the thirteenth century manor house of Ednyfed Fychan allegedly razed to the ground during Owain Glyndwr's rising in about 1409.
After that it was time to head home along Tan Y Bryn Road and then up the steep Llanrwst Road until I got back to my home

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #511 on: May 05, 2020, 07:33:59 pm »
Bryn Euryn


Offline SteveH

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #512 on: May 06, 2020, 10:38:55 am »
Once again, excellent Hugo, very enjoyable.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #513 on: May 17, 2020, 12:33:49 pm »
On Friday,  I did my exercise from home and took the footpath by the bend on the rocky part of Pen Y Bryn Road and it took me to the road in the Nant Y Glyn Valley.     Just by there are impressive stone pillars that marked the entrance to the private drive of Fox Hill.
I'm afraid that curiosity got the better of me and I walked up the drive for a little nosy.    The drive is uphill and very long and goes through some mature woodland, at the end it doubles back on itself and then you see the property.    I don't know what the set up is there but it was strange with a few old cars parked in the trees and the cars  looked like they had not been driven for some time.
Anyway I stayed there just long enough to take two photos and headed off towards Nant Y Glyn Farm and the footpath by the entrance to the farm took me to a nice wooden bridge that crossed over the small stream.      I could see a couple of paths for any future walk but turned around and walked to the Old Highway and then through the steep Pwllycrochan Woods to my home

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #514 on: May 22, 2020, 07:01:52 am »
For my daily exercise on Wednesday I thought that I would have a flying visit again to the Nant Y Glyn Valley to try and locate the Devil's Bridge, check on the route to Llanelian Yn Rhos and have a look at the stream on the Glyn Farm estate.
The first part of the walk was on the footpath starting on the rocky bit of Pen Y Bryn Road and it goes through some dark woodland and my flying visit turned out to be just that, literally.    I caught my foot on a tree root and over I went face downwards resulting in a grazed arm and knee but I got up and dusted myself down and I think that it was my pride that hurt most
Anyway I got into the Nant Y Glyn Valley without any more scrapes and the valley looked beautiful as it was bathed in the warm sunshine.I  heard the first Cuckoo there too and as I made my way to the wooden bridge across the stream I could hear the Cuckoo calling all the time.
At the bridge I walked along the stream bank looking for the Devil's Bridge but because of the undergrowth I gave that up after about 10 minutes.      I then turned left after the wooden bridge and made my way uphill just stopping to admire the Nant Y Glyn Farm and the impressive looking houses on the western side of the steep valley.    A little further on I came across the signpost for Cilgwyn Mawr so at least I had found the route I was looking for.
Carrying on along the path I came to Glyn Farm and in front of the farm is a modern and attractive housing estate.     Between the houses is a stream which is fenced off in two parts and it was the second and lower part I was interested in having a good look at as I had read that the area had previously been a rubbish dump and broken pottery and glass could be seen on the bed of the stream.
Anyway as I reached the lower part I saw a gate that was opened and had a look at the gate just to see if it was on private property but there was no sign there so I went in to the enclosure.      Steps had been made down to the stream and then up on the other side where a wooden bench was so I just sat there and relaxed.    I couldn't see any traces of pottery or glass but someone had created what could be described as an oasis in a housing estate.     Pools had been deliberately formed and yellow irises were flowering on the banks and small dams had been formed to control the flow of any Winter rain.   I took a number of photos and didn't want to leave the place but it was time to go.    I started to close the gate as I was leaving but a voice from across the road shouted out " don't close the gate"   so I asked the man who owned the enclosure and he replied " I do"         Oops  I thought for a moment but afterwards we had a long and very interesting chat and he actually likes people to go into the grounds
I did however find out about the pottery and the glass and the reason why I couldn't see any  was because when the stream was excavated the bed of the stream was unstable because of the pottery and glass etc so the guy had put paving flags over the stream bed so that the water just flows over them and doesn't create any damage
I then returned home along the same path as I came on after having learnt a few lessons then, one being that wearing sunglasses and walking briskly in dark woodland isn't cool.   The plasters will come off soon though!

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #515 on: May 22, 2020, 07:06:42 am »
Nant Y Glyn Valley and Glyn Farm

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #516 on: June 01, 2020, 05:35:55 pm »
For the first day of "freedom" under the lockdown rules I drove to Conwy and had a short walk on the quay where I enjoyed a Parissella's ice cream. 

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #517 on: June 11, 2020, 12:16:28 pm »
I took this photo when I had a walk on the Great Orme on Tuesday and it illustrates the point that I had made when I did a coastal walk earlier this year.
Erosion on the western side of the Orme has been going on for centuries and unfortunately is still continuing.     If you look closely at the photo, you can see two rocks jutting out of the water and the tide was still coming in when the photo was taken.   The rocks are known locally as Yr Hen Ddyn a'r Hen Wraig (   the old man andthe old woman)
In the early 1800's Richard Jones who farmed at Tyddyn Gogarth  ( near the old Railway Convalescent Home ) could recall his father complaining about his ploughshare striking those two large upright stones so it just shows how much land has been lost to the sea since those times
 

Offline Blongb

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #518 on: June 11, 2020, 02:06:58 pm »
I believe Lewis Carroll also referred to them as the Walrus and the Carpenter but agree with your naming   Yr Hen Ddyn a'r Hen Wraig (   the old man and the old woman)  $welsh$
Quot homines tot sententiae: suus cuique mos.
(There are as many opinions as there are people: each has his own view.)

Offline PhilMick

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #519 on: June 11, 2020, 06:22:41 pm »
Thought you might like to see this.

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #520 on: July 08, 2020, 12:20:56 pm »
It would have been my late Mother's birthday last week so I paid my respects by going to the Lawn Cemetery at Llanrhos.        Afterwards I walked through the Cemetery near St Hilary's Church and saw a number of graves that may or may not have had connections to research on the forum
Another one that caught my attention was the one for poor Betty which had the following inscription on it:-
" Here lyeth the body of poor Betty who for upwards of 50 years was a houseless wandering maniac Died February 1824.
Then in Welsh Y mae gorphwysfa yn y Nefoedd  {  There is a resting place in Heaven )  "
Apparently local people clubbed together to save her from a pauper's grave
Afterwards I had a look at St Mary's Well and there is a fascinating story about it in the Deganwy History Society's records

http://www.deganwyhistory.co.uk/en/


Offline Helig

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #521 on: July 08, 2020, 02:57:26 pm »
Thank you, Hugo, for posting the photo of the Kerridge grave.

I read the leaflet posted by PhilMick and recall that my mother always spoke of the mystical powers that surrounded The Monk's Path on the Orme. She always said that it was always green because of the spirits of the monks who had walked up there to St Tudno centuries ago. The Great Orme possesses some sort of spiritual quality in many places.

Helig

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #522 on: September 09, 2020, 06:39:16 pm »
Mrs H and I had a drive in the car to Moelfre in Anglesey today. it was the first time that we have been there since the lockdown.
We went to Din LLigwy the Iron Age village and after that  drove to Moelfre.       Ann's Pantry was too busy for a coffee so instead we each had a large ice cream and sat by the pebble beach to eat it.     They were really large ice creams and a bonus for me was that Mrs H couldn't manage all of hers so I had to step in and finish it off         ;D
After that mammoth effort we had a walk around the headland to the Lifeboat Station and returned through an old part of the village that I hadn't seen before.
If anyone hasn't been there before then it's well worth a visit.   

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #523 on: September 09, 2020, 06:43:23 pm »
Moelfre

Offline Hugo

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Re: Exploring The Area
« Reply #524 on: September 15, 2020, 03:37:56 pm »
If you are going to Black Rock Sands near Porthmadog just be careful where you park your car

https://www.dailypost.co.uk/news/north-wales-news/moment-pink-vw-camper-van-18936580

Sorry Steve but I hadn't read your post before I posted this.      :-[

At least it makes a change to those people cut off on the sandbanks on the West Shore